The number of Independence Day events in and around Chicago in a ‘normal’ year are too numerous to list. It being the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, there are even more events this year.
Navy Pier’s Independence Day Fireworks on July 4 will be the largest and longest in Navy Pier history. The Grant Park Music Festival’s Independence Day Salute concert in Millennium Park will also be a holiday highlight. Later in July, the Grant Park Music Festival performs the “Broadway Sings America” concert on July 21 and 23 in Millenium Park. The Chicago History Museum’s yearlong “US at 250: Civic Action in Chicago” series of events, exhibitions and programming includes the reopening of the “Facing Freedom” exhibition on July 4. The theme of this year’s Newbery Fest open house, with collection presentations, tours, a mini used book sale and more, on July 18 is “250 Years of the United States.” The Chicago Botanic Garden’s “America Grows: 250 Years of Garden Stories” exhibition with tours, activities and programming continues through September 27.
Chicago’s official motto is Urbs in Horto, meaning ‘city in a garden,’ and July is a great time for garden walks. Chicago has some of the country’s longest-running garden walks. The 69th annual Ravenswood Manor Garden Walk is July 26, with a free live concert by the Horner Park Jazz Band in Manor Park to follow. The 66th annual Dearborn Garden Walk is July 19. In its 55th year, the Sheffield Garden Walk, July 18–19, also features live music as well as architectural tours presented by the Chicago Architecture Center. The 53rd annual Edgewater Glen Garden Walk is July 12.
The title of the 18th and sadly final season of Dance in the Parks is “Summer Sunset: A Celebration, A Farewell, A Thank You.” The series offers free, professional dance performances citywide in Chicago’s parks, July 7–24. And it’s the 13th season of free outdoor performances of Shakespeare in Chicago’s parks. Presented in partnership with Night Out in the Parks and the Chicago Park District, Midsommer Flight performs Shakespeare’s “As You Like It” in five parks across the city through August 2.
July is the peak time for summer’s bounty. Visit a farmers market, too many to list here. To enjoy summer fruit at its source, head to Michigan. I remember my maternal grandparents used to load my mother and her siblings in the car and head to Traverse City, both to escape the heat of Chicago and to enjoy the fruit grown there. The 100th National Cherry Festival is July 4–11 in Traverse City, the self-described “Cherry Capital of the World.”
The 46th annual Taste of Chicago festival in Grant Park featuring 84+ food vendors has expanded to five days, July 8–12. The festival includes performances by Common, Beach Bunny and others. You can also sample the fare from many restaurants at Chicago Magazine’s Chicago’s 2026 Best Restaurants festival at Galleria Marchetti on July 15.
Also running July 8–12, the Windy City Smokeout, outside the United Center, is billed as the nation’s premier BBQ and country music festival. Burgers and music are featured at the 19th annual Roscoe Village Burger Fest, July 17–19, on Belmont Avenue and includes a Best Burger in Chicago competition. That same weekend, the brewers and distillers of Chicago’s Malt Row, one of America’s most vibrant brewing communities, present the Ravenswood on Tap Craft Beer and Music Festival, July 18–19.
The annual Pierogi Fest®, July 24–26, in nearby Whiting, Indiana, is among the largest festivals in Chicagoland. Besides food vendors, the fest features a Polka Parade, as well as a pierogi toss and pierogi eating contests.
Other food-focused ethnic festivals include the Hungarian Gulyás Festival running July 11–12 at the Norridge United Church of Christ. The Peruvian Festival is that same weekend at the Copernicus Center. The Tacos y Tamales Festival on Blue Island Avenue in Pilsen is July 17–19. The largest Latino festival in the Midwest, the 54th annual Fiesta Del Sol, runs July 23–26 on Cermak Road between Morgan and Ashland.
And Chicago has a new food festival, probably inspired by the hit TV series “The Bear,” focused on the Italian beef sandwich, a true Chicago classic. The inaugural Chicago Italian Beef Fest in Jefferson Memorial Park is July 31–August 2.
Summer features lighter musical theater. Raven Theatre’s hit production of David Malloy’s a cappella musical “Octet” moves to the Goodman Theatre, July 15–26. Kokandy Productions has done a marvelous job of promoting musical theater in Chicago. Up next is their revival of “Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical” at the Chopin Theater, July 2–September 13. Oak Brook businessman, political activist and producer Michael Butler brought “Hair” to Broadway in 1968 and turned it into an international sensation.
Shaina Taub’s Tony Award®-winning musical “SUFFS,” about the women who fought for the right to vote, runs July 7–19 at Broadway in Chicago’s CIBC Theatre. Chicago journalist and activist Ida B. Wells is portrayed in the musical. Wells is also featured in WTTW’s “Chicago Stories” series.
Chicago and Illinois have a long history of promoting women’s voting rights. The Illinois Woman Suffrage Association, the first statewide organization promoting women’s suffrage, met in Chicago in 1869. The Elmhurst History Museum’s “History of Her: Women Who Shaped Chicagoland” continues through August 9.
Two local legends perform this month at two legendary venues. Fellow St. Ignatius College Prep alumnus John Mulaney performs at Wrigley Field on July 11, making it the first comedy show ever presented at the Friendly Confines. Blues guitarist, singer and songwriter Buddy Guy turns ninety on July 30. His “Buddy Guy 90” tour stops at The Chicago Theatre on July 25. The Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra, which is celebrating its 80th anniversary, returns to Chicago’s biggest music fest, the 35th annual Lollapalooza in Grant Park, July 30–August 2. More than 170 performers will perform across eight stages.
The United States isn’t the only country celebrating its national holiday this month. July 14 is Bastille Day, la fête nationale de France. Join the Alliance Française de Chicago on July 11 for their family-oriented afternoon and adult (ages 21+ only) evening Bastille Day celebration events. The late restaurateur George Badonsky had a string of restaurants including Tango, George’s, Maxim’s and Le Bastille. For years, on Bastille Day, Badonsky organized a “fête” at Le Bastille (very near the Alliance), which included an outdoor wine-carrying competition for waitstaff, who remarkably could move without spilling a drop. The Alliance has kept up the tradition of the waiter’s race (at the afternoon event only).
To celebrate the 250th anniversary of the United States’ Declaration of Independence, the Illinois America 250 Commission created a limited-edition Passport to Illinois of places, people and events in Illinois that have shaped our nation’s history. The eleven sites in Chicago include the Jane Addams Hull-House Museum, Graceland Cemetery and the Obama Presidential Center.
Dates, times, locations and availability are subject to change.
